Spartan 027
by Link's Rose
Summary: In the year 2013, fourteen year-old Andrea "Andy" Kingston died. Only... she didn't exactly go to the great 'afterlife'. Rather, she finds herself in the body of an infant nearly five hundred years later. While she's trying to catch up on the advances humanity's made since she "died", she finds herself being pulled into the Spartan II program.
1. Prologue

_A/N: I've taken a slightly different approach to Spartan-027, in case you haven't checked out the first one :P I'll be the first to admit that I knew next to nothing when I started that, aside from the general plot of the series. I recently read Fall of Reach, as well as beat Combad Evolved, and have done enough research to at least be able to start. Just a few quick things; __**Time travel is in this story**__. In a way, at least. It's not quite the same as the original. I'll add more at the end of the prologue._

_Disclaimer (Blanket disclaimer, this will not be at the beginning of every chapter): Halo does not belong to me, but the original characters within this story are mine unless stated otherwise. Also, as a resident of British Columbia, I'm pretty sure that Ashwood Valley does not exist._

* * *

Prologue: Don't call me Andrea

Andrea and her father Matt had moved in with her aunt Jennifer when Andrea was still an infant, shortly after losing her mother Maria to cancer. Jennifer was a single mother, providing for three young boys at the time. The oldest was eight, his name was Tom. The middle boy was Jeremy, a full five years younger. And Marcus was barely older than Andrea. Jennifer's husband had served in the military with Matt, but unexpectedly went MIA shortly before Marcus was born.

_Location: Wilson Park, Ashwood Valley, British Columbia_

_Date: July/10/2006_

_Time: 1700 / 5:00 PM_

If one were to go for a walk in the park in the small town of Ashwood Valley, one might find themselves caught in a crossfire in a battle to the death... with Nerf guns. In a small town like Ashwood, where everybody knows everybody, the victim of this crossfire would know who it was they were accidentally assailed by; the Kingston children. Cousins, but at a first glance someone on the outside would assume they were siblings.

The four had divided into two teams, Andrea with Jeremy and Tom with Marcus. Each of them was armed to the teeth with Nerf guns, water guns and "grenades", which were water balloons. Both teams also had a set of walkie-talkies. What better way to spend the hot summer afternoon? Well, at least until dinner time, then they had Karate.

Andrea was perched in a tree, waiting for her cousins' attack. She blended in quite nicely, dressed in dark brown pants and a camo t-shirt, with her green Nerf gun in one hand and a walkie-talkie in the other, Super-Soaker crudely strapped to her back with two shoelaces, and a couple of water balloons in a bag over her shoulder. There was also a set of kids' binoculars around her neck.

No matter what the teams were, this was the seven year-old's M.O; She would find a good tree, and attack from above. The other team would always expect it, but they wouldn't know which direction she would come from, as they always chose a different place to set up their "bases".

A crackle came from her walkie-talkie, followed by a quiet voice; _"Any signs of hostiles?"_ Andrea pushed the button to respond.

"Not yet, Jeremy. Watch your six, they could show up from any side." she replied, trying not to fidget on her branch. Andy was a competitive girl, she loved to win. She also had a strong interest in the military, wanting to join the Army like her father had. At the girl's constant begging and pleading, Matt had taught her about drills, terminology, and even some stuff about firearms, though she was never allowed to touch them.

Movement to Andy's right made her narrow her eyes, lifting the binoculars and looking through to see Tom and Marcus creeping towards them.

"Enemy spotted, at your three o'clock!" she whispered into the walkie-talkie urgently. Tucking the walkie-talkie under her chin, the girl pulled the plastic slider on the top of her Nerf gun until the spring locked in position, and she snuck back to move to a lower branch.

_"Copy that, Andrea. I see them."_ Jeremy responded. Andy wrinkled her nose.

"Don't call me Andrea, Jamie, it's _Andy_." she muttered, settled in her new position as Tom and Marcus crept closer. It was a miracle they hadn't noticed her with how close they'd gotten.

_"Then don't call me Jamie."_ her nine year-old cousin retorted. _"Wait for my signal. Counting down five seconds..."_ Tom was almost right under her branch now. Andy silently shifted her super-soaker and prepared to fire. "_...Now!_"

With a battle cry, and the accidental dropping of two "grenades", Andy opened fire on her cousins, who yelped in surprise at the sudden barrage of icy cold water as Jeremy came in from the side. When the water gun ran dry, Andy dropped more of her water balloons on them, until Marcus took off to chase after Jeremy. Dropping her guns onto the soft grass, Andy threw herself from the tree branch, landing on Tom's back with a triumphant cheer. He barely stumbled, before dramatically falling to the ground. Marcus and Jeremy were throwing their water balloons at each other.

"Go, Marcus! Save yourself!" Tom cried out even more dramatically, causing Andy to laugh before pointing her Nerf gun at his forehead.

"Surrender?" she asked cheekily. The teen's face became defiant, and he yelled "Never!" before rolling over, beginning to tickle Andy. She let out a shriek as she tried to push his hands away, unable to stop laughing. Marcus and Jeremy had resolved to simply play-wrestle on the ground. By then, it was clear the game was over. This was affirmed by the sound of a whistle blowing, followed by a woman's voice.

"Boys, Andy, dinner!"

Having halted at the sound of the whistle, standing up, the boys simultaneously called back, "Coming mom!" Now was the time to gather their gear and darts, as well as what was left of the water balloons.

"Not a bad game baby cuz, little bro." Tom said with a smirk as they went to walk back to their house. Andy grinned widely.

"We totally won, that means Andy and I choose the first movie tonight." Jeremy added triumphantly, his hair and clothes practically dripping wet from the water gun/balloon assault. Tom and Marcus looked similar in this aspect, the cleanest and driest of them was Andy. Her father didn't fail to comment on that, which lead to a play-by-play of their battle over the dinner table. Tom and Andy were assigned to do the dishes before getting their things together for Karate.

After Karate came the time for movies. Jeremy and Andy came to an agreement on Fantastic Four, and after that Tom and Marcus chose Independence Day, a movie where aliens invaded earth. It was scary, apparently. Her father worried that it would give Andy nightmares, but _she_ certainly didn't think so. Andy sat through the whole movie without flinching, jumping or hiding. As it turned out that night, it was Marcus who was left unable to sleep that night. Andy was awake for a few hours after bedtime as well, but it wasn't out of fear of nightmares.

The soldiers in the movie saved a lot of people by fighting the aliens. A lot of them were in the military, like her dad had been. A question came to the young girl's mind; if I go into the military, will I save people too? Andy decided to answer that question herself.

"I'll save people some day, just like dad did..."

* * *

**_Seven Years Later_**

_Location: A.D.S.S (Ashwood District Secondary School)_

_Date: March/14/2013_

_Time: 1245 / 12:45 pm_

Andy Kingston sighed quietly, resting her head in her hands as the History teacher continued on about the important historical happenings of 1945; Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the end of World War II, the forming of the United Nations. She knew it was important, so she paid attention, though she personally enjoyed that day where Mrs. Keane had talked about a race called the Forerunners. It was all theoretical, since most information wasn't verifiable, but it was interesting to hear nonetheless.

As hard as Andy tried to pay attention, the next time she found herself focusing on the teacher's droning voice she was talking about the year 1962, a man named Yuri Gagarin was the first man in space. Even with her lack of conscious attention, a glance at her paper showed she'd been taking notes while she'd been lost in her head. It seemed even advanced-placement was becoming too easy. Her father and aunt had taught her quite a bit growing up, certainly more than the school had, this was all little more than a refresher course for her. Though... she had to force composure at the thought of her deceased father and aunt.

It had been an accident, they'd been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that got the two of them killed. They'd been at the hospital, visiting their ill mother, and on the way back... A drunk teen ran a red light and slammed right into them, knocking their car off the road and nearly flipping them; Matthew Kingston died during the surgery meant to save his life, Jennifer was in a coma. After several months, the plug was pulled. Andy had been eleven at the time. Marcus was twelve, Jeremy thirteen, and Tom eighteen. Now they were, respectively, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen and twenty-one. Jeremy had just gotten his Learners Licence.

"Andrea, I asked you a question!" Mrs. Keane's voice was suddenly calling, sounding irritated. Andy jumped in surprise before promptly frowning. Usually Mrs. Keane was happy, not minding if a student had been lost in their thoughts, but lately the teacher had been stressed, quicker to irritation and snapping.

"It's Andy, please, and could you please repeat the question?" she corrected politely.

"I _said_, while Yuri Gagarin was the first man in space, who was the first man on the moon, Andy?" the teacher annoyedly repeated her question. Andy didn't even look at her textbook.

"Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin." she responded without missing a beat. The bell went a moment later, students gathering their books, binders and bags to go to their final class before Spring Break started. In Andy's case, this was gym class. While usually something the teen enjoyed, she wasn't particularly looking forward to it today. Three kinds of self defense classes a week -Jiu Jitsu, Karate, and Kickboxing- plus gym class every day was usually pretty manageable, but yesterday's Karate had been particularly hard and Andy was sore.

She had almost asked the teacher if she could sit out, until she saw they were playing softball. Then, of _course_ she had to play. She loved to win, and her competitive streak was thick.

Andy's team was up to bat first, and there were a few people in front of her and one out. When she was at the plate, the people in the outfield instantly backed up.

'_They know me too well,'_ Andy thought with a smirk, resisting a full-blown grin as the teacher prepared to pitch. A grin would seem overconfident, she had to keep her focus. Her eyes zeroed in on the bright yellow softball as the teacher sent it her way, and she waited for just the right moment to...

_Crack!_

The metal bat hit its mark with a loud '_ping'_ accompanied by the crack the ball sounded off on the impact, and the bright ball flew a good few yards past the outfielders. Two girls made it back to home base, and Andy herself made it to third before the ball returned to the diamond. By then, the teen couldn't help her grin, which grew wider when she made it to home base shortly after. Andy liked to win, and counted that double home-run as a victory even though her team lost by one run.

* * *

_Location: Beaufort Mountain Range, Vancouver Island, British Columbia_

_Date: March/15/2013_

_Time: 1400 / 2:00 pm_

"Jamie, what is it exactly you think you're doing?" Marcus asked.

"Trying to set up my tent, what does it look like? And don't call me Jamie." he responded, not looking away from the mess that was obviously meant to be his tent. Marcus and Tom shared a look.

"You've got the poles in the wrong spots. That one goes there, and these two aren't supposed to cross over each other." Andy corrected her cousin. With a huff, the second-oldest in the group corrected the tent, which slowly started to take its proper shape.

It was a spring-break tradition for the Kingston's to go on a week-long camping trip that would take up most of the break. This week would be comprised of camping, hiking, swimming and paintballing among other things. Really, it was whatever they could come up with. The year previous, they'd played paintball in the dark, with glow-in-the-dark paintballs.

"Right. What should we do first?" Tom asked.

"I vote attack-and-defense." Andy instantly called out, her voice echoing and bouncing around the trees. Jeremy seconded that vote. Tom and Marcus had no objections, and everyone went to retrieve their gear. They split into two teams;Tom and Andy,would be on the defensive, Marcus and Jeremy were the offensive, and then they discussed what part of the forest they would be limited to, so they wouldn't get lost.

"What's the prize for the winner, this time around?" Andy asked, in her gear save for her mask. It was always a competition, and always for some sort of added privilege.

"First rides on the ATV's?" Jeremy suggested. They'd only brought two, since there wasn't any room for another.

"Sounds fine by me." Tom agreed.

"And ten points? Or are we going with fifteen this time?" Marcus asked. The four had a 'point' system whenever they went paintballing; ten -or, in some cases, fifteen- shots to the torso, arms or legs (no cheap shots allowed), and you were out.

The four decided on ten this time around. They would probably change it up the next time they played. "Are we ready?" Tom asked, the others nodded. "Right. Let's go!" he yelled, and they took to the trees, the two teams splitting up; Defensive to set up their base, offensive to make a plan of attack.

Tom had a blockade made of fallen branches and leaves, along with some tree bark and rocks, in about ten minutes, while Andy had found a good tree to climb. No matter what team she was on Andy would always try to find a higher spot to climb on, to catch the other team off guard. She was predictable and unpredictable at the same time in that aspect, because they knew she would do that but they didn't know where she would be.

"Testing, testing. Tom, do you read?" she asked into the walkie-talkie after she found a tree branch she liked, and the defense set up properly on the ground.

_"Loud and clear, kiddo. You okay up there?"_ Tom asked. She flashed him a thumbs-up, knowing he could see her. _"Good. Keep a lookout."_

"Ten four." Andy responded. She heard her cousin chuckle.

_"Such a little military geek..._" he said, the teasing spoken affectionately.

"Gotta learn sometime, don't I?" her visible shrug was practically conveyed in her tone of voice, but she got no response. Andy knew how Tom felt about her pursuit of a military career; her dad had been put in a wheelchair, his dad went MIA when he was seven. As far as he was concerned, their family plus that career choice equals bad luck. Like a curse, in his words.

Andy knew exactly what he thought about the military, but that wasn't gonna stop her from enlisting four years (at minimum) from now. She wasn't sure, but she might have taken some College courses before enlisting, the extra education could come in handy some day.

She watched carefully, remembering Marcus and Jamie would be on the offense this round, and it would only be a matter of time before they showed. A few minutes passed, and she heard a twig snap. She couldn't tell where from, but she saw the briefest flash of camouflage.

"Speak of the devils..." she murmured to herself, smirking. She pulled her walkie-talkie from her pocket. "Hostiles, watch your ten o'clock." she said.

_"Got it, I have a visual."_ Tom replied quietly. Andy raised the paintball gun, lining her target up with the scope.

"Open fire?" she asked.

_"Open fire."_

She pulled the trigger, and the force of the little paintball made Marcus yelp in surprise and pain when it hit his shoulder. He was instantly on his guard, though he was quietly cursing the pain. No doubt there would be a bruise later. Andy barely held back a giggle as she got a now-cautious Jeremy in her sights, but got him in the thigh instead. Then Tom made himself known, and more shots erupted from both sides. The two hadn't found Andy yet, but it was only a matter of time.

She got five more shots collectively before they saw her, and she had to take cover as best as she could in the tree. She scrambled down a few branches as Marcus and Jamie neared their base, to pick them off easier, but that plan was quickly blown out the window when the branch she'd been standing on cracked and split, dropping her several feet until her gloved hand caught on another branch, leaving several feet between Andy's and the ground. She let herself drop and leaped into the cover the wide tree trunk provided.

A few seconds later, her cousin's voice came through the walkie-talkie. He was down, he'd taken ten hits.

_"Down to you, baby 'cuz."_ Tom chuckled in the walkie-talkie from where he lay on the ground catching his breath. _"Think you can handle it?"_ he asked teasingly. Andy scoffed.

"You do remember my dad was a Sergeant, don't you? If there's any bit of him in me, I can totally handle it." she grinned. She then tucked the walkie-talkie back in a pocket, and looked to the nearest available cover. A large boulder a dozen feet away. "Yeah... I can make it..." she murmured.

Bracing herself, she dove away from the tree, shooting at the two boys mid-roll. She got two more shots on Marcus, and he was out. From her count of the paint splatters on Jeremy's gear, he only needed three more.

She finally made it to the cover of the large rock, adrenaline coursing in her veins. A spot on her forearm was throbbing, as were several other places from being shot whilst still in her tree. She counted the spots as she heard a set of footsteps approaching.

"I've still got five shots left..." she muttered. She had six paintballs left. "Yeah. Let's do this."

She stood up from the rock, taking quick aim and squeezing the trigger. She winced as two shots hit her in the collarbone, but hers were hitting their mark more than Jamie's. She stopped when he ducked into cover on the other side of the rock. From a quick check, she had one paintball left. And he had one shot left.

On a quick count of three, she spun over so her rifle was aimed at Jeremy, and his at her. Both on the heart, since headshots were banned.

"Surrender?" Andy asked, panting for breath. Jeremy grinned.

"Never." he replied, and both of them pulled the trigger at the same time. Jeremy's was already empty, and Andy flinched away instinctively. Her last paintball hit its mark, though, and Jamie sat down on the ground to catch his breath when the shot hit him; Andy and Tom had won the round.

"Looks like Tom and I win." she said, grinning widely when her cousins had recovered and gotten to their feet.

"Just like you always win at softball... And jiu jitsu, karate, kickboxing-" Jeremy was about to drone on, but was cut off by Andy's hand.

"Yes, I know all of that." she reminded them. "...Race you to the campsite!" she suddenly hollered, taking off at a sprint. The place they'd stopped to play their game was about a kilometer away from where they were camping, and she knew she'd make it there pretty quickly.

"Andy! That's not fair!" she heard Marcus holler after her, and she heard three sets of laughter and footfalls behind her.

"Whoever said I played fair?" the teen called back with a laugh as she ran, turning her head to see if they were close. Tom was the fastest of them, he was gaining on her. Marcus was already trailing behind - his usual excuse was that he wasn't built for sprinting, better over long distances - and Jamie was sort of in the middle.

After a few minutes of running, Andy slowed her pace. They couldn't be far by now, and she was still leading. Though... not by much with Tom. She would still win though. And even if she didn't, she still got-

"Andy! Watch out!"

Before Andy could even ask what she was watching out for, or register who was yelling, she was falling, then she hit something hard, and her vision flashed red as pain exploded across her body.

Ever since their first trip into these mountains, a summer camping trip when her father and aunt were still alive, she'd been warned to watch where she walked; some sections of the ground were loose or unstable, and if you stepped on them the wrong way you'd end up being dropped. The distances varied, a few inches, a few feet, or as unfortunate Andy was, a few metres at least.

Andy's head and side were throbbing in time with her heartbeat, and the edges of her blurry vision pulsed with it. The teen felt something warm moving down the side of her face; it felt wet. Her hearing faded in and out. She heard someone calling her, but it was like it was far away then suddenly closer. She couldn't make out what was being said, other than her name That was when her vision failed her entirely, and the blackness of unconsciousness - a blissful relief from the pain, albeit temporary - welcomed her.

* * *

The moment Tom saw his cousin falling, the eldest Kingston's blood ran ice-cold.

_"Andy!"_

She hadn't seen the wide split in the ground, which opened up into a "shallow" ravine. It was too deep for him to reach his cousin, he saw this the second he fell to the ground beside it, on his hands and knees. His brothers were there right alongside him, calling for their baby cousin. He couldn't see her all that well, but it was clear she was injured. Crimson blood - bold against Andy's already pale complexion - seeped through her dark hair, making its way down the side of her face, even he could see it.

"Oh god..." Marcus' voice sounded weak beside him.

"We've got to call someone... get her out of there! Andy!" Tom wasn't even sure if she could hear him anymore, but he talked anyways. "Don't worry, we're gonna get you out of there, you're gonna be fine!"

* * *

The Medevac was able to get Andy out without causing further injury, but she was barely breathing when they got her out of the mountains. It took her cousins longer to get to the hospital, and Andy was stabilized by the time they got there. Though, the news wasn't good. Several broken ribs, a hairline fracture on her clavicle, and a near-shattered radius. That, and she hadn't woken up yet. The doctors who'd reported the damage said that was to be expected, with the blow to the head that accompanied the fall, but it didn't reassure the three brothers.

What they saw when they were allowed to see their younger cousin did not reinforce what little reassurance there was; the teen had bandages, stitches, machines and monitors _everywhere_. Her face was pale, her hair was limp, and the rise and fall of her chest was barely perceptible. The steady beeping coming from the heart monitor was slower than it should have been.

It was like a blow to the chest; Andy was strong, competitive, a fighter. This... broken girl, lying in a hospital bed with a bunch of machines keeping her alive, was so different from that girl.

The three boys wanted their cousin, _their_ Andy, back.

* * *

It was nearly a week before a verdict was given on Andy's condition and recovery; The severity of her head injury, atop her other injuries, had send the young woman into a coma. While her body was healing from the damage, there was little chance she would wake up, if ever, for quite a long time. While her body was alive, her brain was, essentially, dead.

Tom, given that he was his younger siblings' legal guardian, was given two options; he could keep Andy on life-support on the off chance that she would eventually wake up, or he could let them pull the plug, let her pass peacefully. The choice ate at him for days, his decision even more so.

Andy Kingston was declared dead at 3:42 in the afternoon on March 20th, 2013.

* * *

_A/N: Quick ending, I know, but now we get to the fun stuff! I promised a better explanation about what I mean by time travel, the best I can come up with is this; Instead of one's body traveling into the future or past, what if it was their soul? Their memories, personality quirks, all of that transferred from one time to another. An example would be Dean Winchester in the fanfiction If I Knew Then What I Know Now, only he went into the past, not the future. Anyways, more to be explained in Chapter 1!_


	2. Chapter 1

_A/N: Here's chapter 1! Here's where the fun begins for Andy. Here we go!_

Chapter 1 - Clean Slate?

_Location: Unknown_  
_Date: Unknown_  
_Time: Unknown_

The first thing Andy noticed was that she no longer felt the pain she had when she was last conscious. The second was that she was being held in someone's arms. Someone much, much larger than her. Her eyes blearily opened, and it seemed hard to focus on things. Was something wrong with her eyes?

Everything was slowly clearing, and that was when a woman's face came into focus above her. Blue eyes, fair skin, brunette, and with a wide smile on her face. If she didn't recognize this woman, the love in her eyes would have made Andy a bit uncomfortable. But as it was, she recognized her from her old photo albums. It was the woman in her dad's wedding photos; It was her _mother_. Her eyes widened a little bit, but the action seemed harder.

"Where am I?" That was what Andy had tried to ask. What came out was...well... babbling. Only a few words were clear. Her eyes widened again. That was _not_ her voice! That was a... a baby's voice! Why did she sound like a baby?

Then her surroundings provided a bit of an answer for her. Pale lavender walls, dark wooden child's bed in the corner, a matching rocking chair in another, baby toys and pictures everywhere around the room. There was an embroidered plaque hung on the wall above the bed.

_Andrea Melody Kingston_  
_10:29 AM_  
_Saturday, May 2nd, 2511_

2511. The year two thousand five hundred eleven. The date, name and time were correct, but five hundred years and a decade off on the year.

"It's your birthday, Andrea." her mother, Maria, cooed. "You're two years old now."

"And still not sleeping through the night, I gather." a voice commented from the door. Matt Kingston, Andrea's father. Both Andy and Maria turned to look at the door. With a small squeal, Andy reached her arms out for him. She tried to not cry at the face she hadn't seen in three years as Matt entered the nursery with a smile on his face, lifting Andy from her mother's arms and into his.

With a contented noise, Andy laid her head on his chest. Figuring out why she was a baby, and five hundred years in the future, could wait. Her dad came first. His heartbeat in her ear coupled with the rhythmic patting on her back was nearly sending her to sleep once again, but she didn't want to sleep. Unable to form words, Andy settled for babbling happily, a mix of "Mama", "Dada", and a string of nonsensical noises and almost-words in between. Her parents laughed.

"You're going to be quite the chatterbox when you're older, aren't you?" her father said affectionately, pressing his forehead against hers when she lifted it from his shoulder. Andy giggled, reaching out and putting one hand on his face. If she had any fine motor-skills in her young body, she probably wouldn't have nearly poked him in the eye. As it was, that was what happened.

"I think it's time we all went back to bed, hm?" Maria suggested softly. Matt nodded, and gently laid Andy down on her bed. Against her own volition, Andy yawned and her eyes started drifting closed. She felt her mother gently kiss her forehead, before two sets of footsteps walked out of her room. As she fell asleep, Andy was only able to figure two things out; In this strange future-parallel world, her mother was alive, and she was a toddler. She would just figure the rest of it out as she went along.

* * *

The next morning was... interesting to say the least. Andy woke up with a growling stomach, and her door was closed. The handle was too high for her to reach. But she was _hungry_. With a little whine, the girl-in-a-child's-body decided to explore her new surroundings. The furniture -aside from a toybox in the far corner- was all dark wood, the bed set matched the walls; pale lavender. There were kittens on the comforter, stuffed animals scattered around the floor.

Another thing Andy figured out was that she needed to learn how to properly walk again. This was apparent when she toppled onto her backside with another unsuccessful attempt at reaching the doorknob.

"Mom?" she called, tapping the door as she got to her feet. There wasn't any answer. A quick look at the kiddie-looking clock on the wall said it was still early in the morning.

_'On my birthday. It's my birthday. In the future. But I'm younger?'_

It was all really confusing for Andy, as she toddled over to the mirror on the closet door. She didn't remember what she'd looked like when she was younger, it would be disconcerting to see it now.

Dark hair pulled up in two pigtails high on her head, bangs on her eyebrows. That was the first thing she noticed. The next was the fuzzy pink pyjamas that she wore. It had a cartoony cat on the shirt, with dozens scattered on the pants. Her eyes were the same as she remembered, as was her face. Just... much younger. She still saw herself though, as disconcerting as it was.

With clumsy fingers, Andy reached up for the pigtails, pulling the little rubber bands out. Her hair fell to her shoulders, wavy and tangled. Andy threw the offending hair ties into the corner of the room, and started walking around the room a little more until she got a feel for her new body, and could walk a little better.

_'What do I do now?'_ she thought. She thought a little more, before starting to talk aloud. She had to learn to talk again too, it seemed. She cycled through basic English a few times, switching over to Japanese and doing the same. She'd learned Japanese a long time ago, she remembered using it to have conversations with her father when she didn't want her cousins to know what she was saying.

It had been really handy when it came to Christmas and birthdays.

Wandering to the window, Andy saw the sun rising over a tree-covered mountain. The trees were mostly evergreens, so... was she still in British Columbia? How was it still alive? Back in 2013, the whole world was pretty much dying...

She'd have to find out later.

After a few more minutes, Andy was just plain bored. And she _still_ couldn't reach her door handle! With a huff, she looked around the room again to find something to assist in her escape. Then she saw it; Poking out of the edge of her closet, a child's kitchen set. On it's side, it would be just what she needed to reach the door.

The only problem Andy had would be getting it on its side without waking anybody up. The problem was quickly solved with the help of several tiny stuffed animals. Within two minutes, the tiny plastic kitchen was positioned by the door, the door opened. Andy's footsteps in the hallway were muffled by the carpeted floor as she made her way over to the staircase. That in itself, getting down the stairs, was a task that had the teen-in-a-baby-body cursing said body and it's small limbs. It also took several minutes.

From there, Andy went everywhere in her power to go. Which... wasn't much. The living room, some kind of play room, and the hallway that led to the front door. There were gates set up everywhere else. She _could_ try to climb over them, and risk hurting herself and waking her parents.

That was when it hit her; _Parents_. Plural. She had a mother now, too. She didn't know what that would be like. Andy had lived thirteen of her fourteen years without a mother-figure. She'd had her Aunt Jenny, but it wasn't the same thing. Now she had a mom, and she wasn't sure what to think about it.

She'd just have to make it up as she went along.

* * *

"Matt, did you- _Andrea_?" Maria's shocked-but-groggy voice startled Andy over than an hour later. She'd been so lost in her thoughts she hadn't heard her come down the stairs. The girl had been sitting on the couch for quite some time; the thoughts she'd been so lost in alternated between how things were different in the future, and how things were different with a mom.

Right around when Maria spoke, Andy decided that both were good things. She'd never had a mother, and her dad had always told her how amazing she'd been. Now she could see it for herself. And an upside to the future was that she was, well, five hundred years in the future, _and_ her body was young enough that she would be taught all about what she missed in School.

At her mother's voice, her first reaction had been to twitch, startled, before turning her head and grinning a cheeky baby smile at her. Climbing down from the couch, she approached her mother with a happy greeting, holding her arms up.

"Mornin' mommy."

"But...how did you get out of your room?" Maria mused as she lifted Andy into her arms. Andy just giggled. It wasn't like she could explain it. Besides, she'd eventually see the toy kitchen on it's side beside her bedroom door. "Never mind that, let's go get you your birthday breakfast."

Despite her protests, Andy was deposited in a high chair with a sippy cup while her mother prepared breakfast.

* * *

The rest of Andy's birthday was... interesting. She learned that they were not, in fact, in Ashwick, British Columbia like she'd thought. They were on another _planet_. A whole other planet. She'd heard her father say Circinius IV. The town they were in was called Aberdeen.

Another difference with the future-parallel world was that before, her dad was a Sergeant, and now he was a Major. He was also serving as an instructor at some military academy outside of Aberdeen, and had taken the day off for her birthday. He was leaving sometime that night to go back.

Andy had been gifted a child's drawing pad and crayons from her Aunt Jenny, a stuffed fox from her three cousins -whom she'd internally celebrated seeing-, a pretty doll from her mother, and a "UNSC" (she'd have to find out what that was...) cadet hat several sizes too large for her head that he'd "borrowed" from the academy he taught at. Her mother wasn't overly pleased, but she loved it.

All in all, a tiring day for the birthday girl's new, much younger body. She'd been out like a light -with her arms tightly latched around the fuzzy stuffed fox she'd been gifted- before 8:00 that night. Andy didn't mind. She had all the time in the world to spend with her family...right?

This was her first thought upon waking in the middle of the night. The nightlight in the corner glowed dimly, the moon filtering through her thin curtains on the other side of the room. A quick look at the clock said it was 2:45 in the morning. _Way_ too early to be awake. But Andy couldn't sleep, she felt wide awake. Sliding onto the carpeted floor, the girl went to her bookshelf, grabbing the drawing pad and crayons. A pen would have been better, but Andy needed to practice a little bit. What better time than when everyone else was asleep?

That, and she could hide the page she was using. She didn't want to draw unwanted attention -well, any _more_unwanted attention- to herself. She got enough of that already, being a baby.

With a sigh, Andy starting writing out letters, uppercase and lowercase. It became clear that Andy's new body barely had basic motor skills, no fine ones to speak of. She'd have to work on that.

It took a little while, but eventually her hands got used to the crayon and her movements, and she started writing sentences. Granted, they were still messy and childlike, but she could at least read it.

_I'm alive. I don't know what happened, or how, but I'm alive. I remember running in the mountains, camping with my cousins, and I fell into a ravine or something. I hit my head, and my whole body hurt. Then it was all black, and I woke up in my mother's arms this morning. My mother, who died from cancer when I was one year old... five hundred or so years ago. I died in 2013, and when I woke up I was in the year 2513. Today was my second birthday. _

_It can't be the future in my universe, it's not possible. To have the same father and mother, same aunt and cousins, five hundred years later. It's too coincidental. _

_I guess the universe gave me a fresh start, a second chance? If that's the case, why am I even remembering my old life? Will I forget when I grow older in this body?_

_..._

_I don't want to forget._

Andy's tiny hand was sore from writing already, so she dropped the crayon and -as quietly as she could- tore the paper out of the drawing pad. Folding it neatly, the girl replaced her writing tools and hid it between her mattress and bed-frame. She couldn't let it be found, it was her secret. That, and if her parents found it they would likely think something was seriously wrong with their daughter. Which, from a logical perspective, was actually true.

For now, she'd have to play the part of a two year-old, and hope for the best.

* * *

_A/N: Cutting this short, we're still kind of in the prologue-y stuff. Next chapter features a time-skip. If you're interested in how Andy starts adapting to her new year and all that, I'll be starting a series of oneshots soon that depict the more prominent moments in that._


End file.
